I have been walking a lot lately. Walking before the beginning of the office hours and walking after work. Walking in Tokyo is a wonderful experience, giving me a lot of chances to discover new places – big and small, and keep fit at the same time. The temperatures here dropped by 10 degrees within a couple of days and it feels dry and fresh outside (this is not to say that I hate humidity – it is very good for the skin but after a long hot summer, dryness feels good too.)
For this reason, I have not had time to make soap, at least for the last 2 weeks but I am going to catch up on my soap making starting today.
I still have some Indian indigo powder to use. Last time I used it, I added the powder directly to the raw soap but since the trace was very quick I had close to no time to stir and disperse the powder well. The color was state blue, quite different from the Japanese indigo I use for other soaps.
I have not found indigo produced in countries other than Japan and India but judging by the colors I got I guess the methods of fermenting /processing the row indigo or the plant varieties are different. The funny thing though is that the farmer who produces the indigo here can be reached only by fax. First I thought it was a kind of inconvenient since I had to go to the convenience store to fax my order. But then the most amazing thing happened – I got my indigo with the invoice enclosed and a short letter asking me to send the money by post (it is a safe service provided by the post offices here) within the next two weeks. I hurried and posted the money the same day but now I know that even a week later would have been ok. This is one of the reasons I love Japan. After living here for some time I have gotten so used to people’s honesty that more often than not I do not wait for the money to reach my bank account either – I send the soaps as soon as receive an order.
I do prefer the color I get from the Japanese indigo though. If interested you can see my Japanese indigo soap at https://infusionsblog.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/indigo-soap/
I wish you a beautiful day!
Maya
I really like reading your posts, Maya!
Reading you is also discovering a little bit of Japanese culture… which we all like!
Your soap is beautiful, and the purple is really nice!
Have a nice evening!
Natalia
Thank you Natalia!
I hope you enjoy the following posts, too.
Have a nice day!
Maya
Me too, I want to try indigo powder, I use it for vegetal dye of my linen, but have never used for soaps. Do you mix it with water?
Hi Olga,
Yes, I mix the indigo powder with water and use the blue-colored water. It is safer as sometime the soap traces quickly and there is no time to stir in the powder.
Maya
Such a good habit to walk… I can only dream about indigo powder since it is not available here, but I can enjoy your soaps. I am looking forward to your new soap creations!
Thank you, Gordana!
I hope you enjoy the following posts, too.
Have a good day!
Maya
Maya, haces unos jabones muy finos y bonitos.
Gracias por seguirme!
Un beso.xoxo
Hi Olivia,
Thank yuo for visiting and for grreeting me in such a warm way.
I will be visiting your blog again. Cannot wait to see your next creation.
Maya